National’s Aaron Gilmore, 35,
entered parliament last year as a list MP by just 39
votes.

“In hindsight everyone thinks it’s
hilarious.”

Gilmore says he never expected to enter as
early as last year – targeting 2011.

He began thinking
about becoming an MP when he worked in parliament in the
late 1990s and after that, got more involved in the
development of National Party policy.

“As a painter in
the street, you get to vote, but you don’t get the same
influence or ability to change New Zealand.

“I got
really grumpy with Helen Clark and the lady I ran against
[Lianne Dalziel] last election. You’d try and talk to them
about some of their policies being wrong and they didn’t
want to listen.”

The decision to run in the Labour
stronghold of East Christchurch meant Gilmore turned down
the chance to run in safer National seats.

“I don’t
regret making those calls.”

The young MP though is
gracious when naming his “political dream team” –
reaching out to both side of the house.

The seven names
Gilmore picks are:

John Key would be the captain.
“[He’s] the most popular prime minister we’ve had
ever.”

Gerry Brownlee: “He’s a wonderful leader of
the house.”

Bill English: “He’s a classic Dipton
farmer. He’s very calm. He’s cautious. It’s exactly
the type of person you want to have as your Minister of
Finance.”

David Lange: “He’d be one of the most
charismatic politicians we’ve ever had.”

Winston
Peters: “I’m not sure if anyone could control that
gentleman.”

Keith Holyoake: “It would be interesting
to see how he worked in modern political times, as one of
his big faults is he wasn’t good on TV.”

Rod Donald:
“He was an environmentalist – not a socialist.”

If
those seven men could work together, they would be a
“pretty unbeatable team”, Gilmore says.

No place for
Helen Clark though.

“I don’t think she listened enough
to the public. She was very good at trading off people’s
views.

“I’d rather have Winston than Helen and
Winston’s a very difficult man.”

Gilmore’s picking
Rod Donald in his dream team comes as no surprise for the
self-confessed “blue green”.

Gilmore says New Zealand
has to have some sort of emissions trading scheme as climate
change is happening, so long as the country finds a balance.

While the ACT Party may be climate change deniers, there
were none in the National caucus, he says.

“There’s an
opposite end of the spectrum who seem to think the world is
coming to an end and we have to change our entire lives.
Some of the Green Party believe that. That’s not right
either.”

Gilmore does not deviate from the party line on
the recent “anti-smacking” referendum either.

“I
wholeheartedly support the prime minister’s
decision…

“The question [was] terrible. It was badly
worded. Most people when you talk to them didn’t know what
they were voting for.”

Because of this, Gilmore says he
did not vote.

And Gilmore is reluctant to say which way he
would vote in an MMP versus FPP referendum. He says he would
prefer to see the all the options proposed by justice
minister Simon Power first. The self confessed “MMP
child” is too young to have voted in an FPP
election.

“MMP has its place and can work spectacularly
– as can FPP.”

MMP does have “anomalies” though,
including allowing ACT to re-enter parliament under the
electorate seat rule, although it only received two per cent
of the vote on election night. In contrast, New Zealand
First missed out when receiving 4.2 percent of the vote.

“Is that fair? I don’t know, but most people would
say not really.”

“People don’t understand list MPs
either.

“In my job I get called all sorts of things. MP
for Burwood. MP for Parklands. MP for Marsians. All sorts of
stuff. In reality it’s very confusing.”

Gilmore though
has an office open in Christchurch.

“I basically do all
the work of an electorate MP”. Gilmore and his office
staff have churned through about 2000 issued affecting
Christchurch people since the election, he says.

“I
thought I would enjoy the whole analysis-speechy stuff here
in Wellington – and I do, but I don’t enjoy that as much
as helping some little old lady out in the community on an
issue. That’s quite humbling.”

Gilmore comes from a
very much working-class background. Both his parents are
shop-keepers.

He says he has always voted
National.

“It was a line call in 2002 I must
say.”

After a solid Christchurch upbringing, Gilmore’s
working life began in the Ministry of Transport before a
shift to the Beehive to work with Bill Birch and Tony Ryall
in the 1990s National government.

But then National lost
the 1999 election and Gilmore moved into the private
sector.

“I met the new minister for SOEs at the time
[Mark Burton] and I didn’t like him.”

His last job
before entering parliament was with US multi-national
General Cable.

Gilmore says winning the Christchurch East
seat is his goal for the 2011 election. Last year, he
slashed the majority of Lianne Dalziel from 14,000 to
6,000.

“If we don’t win next time, we’ll win the
time after.”

So far in parliament, Gilmore has spent
time on the education and regulations review select
committees.

Gilmore says it was difficult but rewarding to
deal with teachers and unions when on the education
committee, but the worst of it was dealing with Labour’s
Trevor Mallard: “The nasty little man that he
is.”

Spare time is a foreign concept to a new MP like
Gilmore, but he is a keen outdoors, sport and family
man.

Musically, Gilmore, like many of his generation, goes
for the Smashing Pumpkins and Navana.

And how does that go
down with his more experienced colleagues? “It’s a bit
weird – because no everyone knows who they are.”

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